Join me as I chronicle my journey through the Adriatic, Mediterranean, and Aegean Seas on our 12-night “Mediterranean Empires” cruise aboard Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam. The next few blog entries will detail the various ports of call we visited during the cruise…

May 6 – Istanbul, Turkey

After spending the majority of the day at sea cruising through the Dardanelles, we approached Istanbul from the west at about 3pm. The approach into Istanbul was beautiful, and I enjoyed pointing our parts of Istanbul to my girlfriend, Aunt, and Uncle. I previously spent time in Istanbul about a year ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Because of this, I really looked forward to returning on this trip.

Sailing into Istanbul

Sailing past the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia

Approaching the port with Galata Tower in background

We ultimately didn’t dock until around 5pm due to high winds, but when we did my girlfriend and I disembarked and walked into town directly to the Galata Bridge. We had the fortune at docking at the cruise ship birth closest to the Galata Tower and Bridge, so the location was extremely convenient. After viewing the fishermen from the Galata Bridge, we proceeded to the Egyptian Bizzare – or Spice Bizzare to see the sights, sounds, and smells of the place. Overrun with spice merchants, vibrant colors and smells filled the air making for a pretty intense setting. Ater this, we walked back across the bridge, and up the hill to Galata Tower for a panoramic view of Istanbul. As the timing worked out, we were up on Galata Tower right around sunset, which made for some amazing pictures.

The Nieuw Amsterdam docked in Istanbul with landmarks

Fishermen on Galata Bridge in Istanbul

Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar in Istanbul

Galata Tower

The Nieuw Amsterdam from Galata Tower

Nieuw Amsterdam docked in Istanbul

Panoramic view of Istanbul from Galata Tower

Istanbul landmarks from Galata Tower: Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque

Sunset from Galata Tower in Istanbul

We then continued up the hill to the Galata area. We explored the side streets full of bars and cafes, and came upon a few of the bars that I’d been to last year on my trip to Istanbul with friends. We started back towards the ship before stopping for a Turkish dinner of kebab and Turkish pizza. It was tasty as always. We returned to the ship around 9:30pm where the ship was putting on a Turkish Bazaar dinner up on board – they really did a nice job with it though we did not partake.

May 7 – Istanbul, Turkey

This was a unique port of call for a cruise since we were docked in Istanbul overnight. The overnight call aspect of the cruise was one of the most attractive features of the trip for us. Having been to Istanbul before, I had a pretty good idea of a proper tour itinerary for my girlfriend, aunt, and uncle that next morning. We decided to take the tram to the Sultanahmet stop – a short, ten minute trip (for €3 per person, each way). Here, we toured the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, and Sistern Basilica. Entrance to the Blue Mosque is free, but we did have to wait in line for about a half an hour before being allowed to enter and take pictures. The view inside was amazing as usual, and reminds me of the cover of my high school World History textbook. Next, we walked over to the Hagia Sofia, but decided not to enter due to the massive line to get in. Entrance would have been €10 per person had we decided to brave the line. I did go inside the Hagia Sofia on my last trip to Istanbul, and in my opinion, it would have been worth the wait.

The Blue Mosque

The blue hued ceiling of the Blue Mosque

The Hagia Sophia

Alas, the rest of the group didn’t want to wait, so we headed across the street to the Sistern Basilica. Entrance to the Sistern was also ten euros per person. I quite enjoyed this last time, and I did on this trip as well. It’s a dimly lit cavern full of water and yellow and red lighting. We then proceeded to the Grand Bazaar, which was only about a ten minute walk from the Sultanahmet area. As usual, the Grand Bazaar was utter chaos – not quite my cup of tea, but the ladies wanted to get some shopping in. We took a quick break for a lunch of doner kebap before taking the tram back to the ship in time for our scheduled 5pm departure. The sail away from Istanbul was simply beautiful as we passed Istanbul landmarks like the Galata Bridge, Topapki Palace, Hagia Sofia, and Blue Mosque. That evening, we enjoyed appetizers in the room before our dinner at Tamarind — the specialty Asian Fusion restaurant onboard.

Cistern Basilica

Departing Istanbul, looking at the MSC Deliciosa

Organized chaos inside Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

Appetizer setup in our suite as we sailed away from Istanbul

Our balcony as we sailed away from Istanbul

A pre-dinner drink around sunset at the Silk Den on the Nieuw Amsterdam

May 8 – Mitilini, Lesbos, Greece

We awoke the following morning off the shore of Lesbos – a Greek Island just off the west coast of Turkey. The ship was anchored about a mile off shore, so we utilized the ship’s tenders to transport passengers into town. Mitilini is a picturesque, Greek fishing village centered around a harbor. It really reminded me of the harbor in Georgetown, Grand Cayman about twenty years ago before the high rise buildings. The harbor is lined with cafes that turn into nightclubs at night. Since Mitilini is apparently a college town, these seemingly sleepy cafes convert into a raging nightclub scene after dark (or so we were told). We enjoyed several beers and shots of ouzo at a couple different cafes in Mitiline before and after a stroll down the main shopping / market area of the town. The ouzo was a must since Lesbos is where the Greek drink originated! We decided against an organized tour to another location or beach on the rather large island, and this port served as a leisurely break in between the two, tour-intensive Turkish ports of call.

The harbor in Mitilini, Lesbos (Lesvos) lined with sailboats

Nieuw Amsterdam anchored off Mitilini, Lesbos

The street market in Mitilini, Lesbos

May 9 – Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

Kusadasi is one of two port cities used by cruise lines to access the ancient city of Ephesus. It is the much closer of the two ports (Ismir), and it is only about a twenty minute cab ride from the pier in Kusadasi to Ephesus. We arranged a cab at the pier as transportation to Ephesus for a total of €60, round-trip. The drive from Kusadasi to Ephesus is very scenic, as you hug the rugged coastline for most of the 15km trip. Upon arriving in Ephesus, we paid an entrance fee to the ruins. The ruins themselves were spectacular. The pictures below speak for themselves. Highlights of the ruins included the Terrace Houses (extra entrance fee), and the Great Arena, which held up to 25,000 spectators.

More preserved ruins of Ephesus

The Ephesus Terrace Houses were were the price of admission

The impressively preserved Terrace Houses at Ephesus. notice the tile mosaics and frescos on the walls

More ruins in Ephesus

The Grand Arena in Ephesus

The Grand Arena at Ephesus held up to 25,000 spectators

After spending about an hour and a half at the ruins, our cab driver drove us back to Kusadasi, where we briefly walked through the town bizarre before having a Turkish lunch at Toros, right on the harbor. The kebab lunch was fresh and delicious.

Kusadasi itself functions as a major beach resort town on the Turkish coast. The coastline, the beaches, and water are beautiful in Kusadasi. The Turkish coast as a whole is renowned for some of the finest beachest anywhere on the Mediterranean, and this is certainly a region to which I’d love to return.

The Nieuw Amsterdam docked in the harbor at Kusadasi, Turkey

A panoramic view of Kusadasi with the Nieuw Amsterdam docked in the harbor